Wellness & Well-being Highlights January 20th

Wellness & Well-being Highlights

for the

Week of Jan 20, 2025

This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog looks at how OSHA will soon be requiring better fitting PPE—to tips on improving your sleep and taking naps—to how Costco has taken a stand against purging DEI. This week I would like to take this opportunity to tip my hat to a longtime friend and colleague, Sal Valadez. Sal has worked for LiUNA at the regional level for several years now. Most importantly, he has been a champion for minorities in the construction workforce and the communities where we live and serve. To this end, he was instrumental in the design, development, and implementation of the document linked below.

For the past decade+, Sal’s voice at a number of tables across our region ensured that minorities—of ALL stripes—were not left behind. As such, a few years back, he took the lead with ECORN-MO (Ethnic Communities Opioid Response Network – Missouri) and tackled a project that would make certain that ALL people have access to information regarding opioid use disorder at the neighborhood levels. On more than one occasion, I personally observed Sal in action speaking to a variety of concerned citizens, workers, business owners, etc. Whether it was a Muslim Cleric, Construction Contractor, or a University Researcher, he found ways to connect and reassure those people he would include their voice.

To say that Sal is a unicorn would be an understatement. Make no mistake, his upbringing molded his views of the world where kindness and a big heart made others feel at ease being around him. This was key in the connections he cultivated. I recently heard that Sal may soon be retiring. This, my friends, will leave a void…just about the time we started to make some positive headway concerning diversity, equity, and inclusion in an economic sector that has historically been dominated by white males.

To Sal: best wishes in your next chapter!

To you: Who out there will fill Sal’s shoes?

Source: https://attcnetwork.org/prevention-of-opioid-use-education-materials/

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PTSD Myths

OSHA & Proper PPE

Construction MH: Know Your People

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